It was wrong to do this,' said the angel. 'You should live like a flower, Holding malice like a puppy, Waging war like a lambkin.'

'Not so,' quoth the man Who had no fear of spirits; 'It is only wrong for angels Who can live like the flowers, Holding malice like the puppies, Waging war like the lambkins.'--Stephen Crane

There were so many different ways to be beautiful.--Michael Cunningham, A Home At The End Of The World

It’s more that I’m afraid of time. And not having enough of it. Time to figure out who I’m supposed to be… to find my place in the world before I have to leave it. I’m afraid of what I’ll miss.--Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

Life plays the same lovely and agonizing joke on all of us.--F.Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful And The Damned

We stand there, quiet. My questions all seem wrong: How did you get so old? Was it all at once, in a day, or did you peter out bit by bit? When did you stop having parties? Did everyone else get old too, or was it just you? Are other people still here, hiding in the palm trees or holding their breath underwater? When did you last swim your laps? Do your bones hurt? Did you know this was coming and hide that you knew, or did it ambush you from behind?--Jennifer Egan, A Visit From The Goon Squad

The smell of peace is abroad, the air is cold, the skies are brittle, and the leaves have finally fallen. I wear a pony coat with skin like watered silk and muff of lamb. My fingers lie in depths of warmth. I have a jacket of silver sequins and heavy bracelets of rich corals. I wear about my neck a triple thread-like chain of lapis lazulis and pearls. On my face is softness and content like a veil of golden moonlight. And I have never in all my lives been so lonely.--Erik Larson, In The Garden Of Beasts: Love Terror, And An American Family In Hitler's Berlin